Friday, October 31, 2008

I've sewn for many years. I'm quite thankful for a mother that allowed me to play on her machine as young as 8 years old. I jammed her machine and broke so many needles that now that I'm 28, I sit down and relax with a sewing machine. I've made about five and a half quilts over the last few years. Only in the last year have I really taken to piecing quilts and then actually quilting them.

My first official quilting project is a star quilt in red white and black. My favorite color is red which is why I chose the colors. It was intended for myself but as I began working I realized I needed to give it to someone else. It was pure luck that the lady I gave it to also loved red! This was also my first experience quilting on my machine. This quilt is lap size, perfect for watching television or reading a book.

My next quilt was a baby quilt. The colors are a little wild but that suits me! This pinwheel pattern is based off of two quilts given to me and my last two babies. Those two quilts were part of what inspired me to give quilting a try. Thanks Sonja! This was my first project for hand quilting. I enjoyed it and have started another baby quilt for hand quilting. Most likely, I'll never hand quilt a full size blanket! Especially with the carpal tunnel acting up!

This is my current quilting adventure. Its been the most challenging yet. I've dealt with a lot more fabric warping because so much is biased cut. I still like it though. I'm OK with the mistakes so far. This star will be on a white background and I haven't figured out what I want for my border yet. Lots still to do!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

So why Brush Strokes to Cake Crumbs you might ask? I consider myself an artist but have never fully settled on a medium partly due to life's changing circumstances. I really enjoyed painting in college but since having children, it just hasn't been a medium that worked well for me. I've tried other mediums in hopes of finding something easier to do around them. I first tried building and painting children's rocking chairs but that was quite short-term. Next came cake decorating. It filled the need to build and allowed a type of painting. I liked that all the supplies were safe for the children to be around, unlike turpentine and power tools. Though that was fun, it always led to sticky messes! Then I caught the quilting bug. I love pattern. Before going to college I even contemplated doing textile design. Why it took me so long to try quilting out I'm not sure. For the last year it has been the medium that has stuck. Its much easier to pull out and clean up and I can work with the kids around, usually. I've got to watch the iron and straight pins though! So I'll be showing some of the things I've worked on but don't be surprised if I can't seem to stick to a medium! I like to use just about anything that allows for creativity!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Rarely does Oliver need any coaxing to do a project. In fact he usually is asking me to get out the scissors and glue for him. That was the case this week. He found the only construction paper we had left and made what I'll call pumpkin demons. This was totally his idea. He designed them so they can be attached to a stick and posted into the ground around the backyard. If he did not have a curious little brother he would have been successful too! I took pictures of the kids with Ollie's pumpkin demons and as soon as they stood up and walked away little hands yanked them out of the ground. Because it would be a losing battle to keep Spencer away from them, Oliver allowed me to display them on the fence instead.Did you notice Evelyn's hair? Its not so wild! Mommy got brave with the scissors. Its not a perfect cut but hey its the first time I've cut girl's hair other than my own! Yeah, haven't we all done that at some point? Another reason to have cut Evelyn's hair was that I kept finding locks of blond around after she'd had scissors. I haven't seen that since her new cut. Maybe that's because she can actually see now!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

So far we have three, usually lovely children, Oliver, Evelyn and Spencer.

Oliver will be 5 in December and is now in preschool. He loves being with other children. He spends much of his time building with Legos and running around in the backyard. He loves robots and superheros. When walking into the grocery store the other day, Oliver blurted out, "Mom does he have super powers?" It took me a moment to realize what Oliver was talking about. Then I saw that the child nearby us had on a tee shirt with the logo from the Disney movie The Incredibles. Oliver was sure this child could save us all from impending danger. It was cute and also lets me know he's still not deciphering fact from fiction. Great imagination this one!

Evelyn is two years younger than Oliver but getting ready for preschool too. She'll start in January. She's my cuddler. If there is a child in our home that loves a hug or wants to sit on a lap, its Evelyn. I'm glad to have one child like that! Evelyn likes things that are pretty. As soon as she was old enough to walk she was guiding me to anything that had flowers or ribbons on it in stores. She doesn't get dressed up much though because she loves playing in the dirt. This image of Evelyn is one of the rare moments where she let me do her hair. Usually it's just tangle of blondness. Maybe its time to get the scissors!

Spencer is the youngest of the bunch at one and half years. He's in a stage where if there is anything above ground level he will master climbing it. We have a kitchen counter with a raised bar and I caught him successfully climbing on top from the high end! I think I'll have to tie the chairs to the table soon for his protection and my sanity. Spencer is one of my close buddies. He had a rough start in life, not too rough, but enough that he needed to be held most of the time. So now we're kind of attached at the hip. We're both gaining needed independence as he's getting older.